1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for maintenance of a measuring instrument.
2. Prior Arts
Conventionally, in a case where maintenance is required due to trouble or malfunction of a measuring instrument, the user contacts a servicing center of the maker by telephone, etc., and receives information regarding countermeasures for resolving the trouble from the servicing center.
However, in a case where maintenance becomes necessary during time and date other than business hours and business days of the servicing center, the maker is unable to carry out maintenance. Furthermore, since experience and skill are required to execute such servicing, it is necessary for a man to do so. Therefore, it is difficult to automate such servicing by, for example, utilizing computers, etc. Accordingly, it is necessary that service personnel are secured during days and hours other than the business days and time zones.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for maintenance of a measuring instrument to solve such problems.
A measuring instrument for which the method for maintenance according to the invention is applied is provided with a detector for detecting an object to be measured and for outputting a detected value, and a measurement computer which functions to control measurement of a measuring instrument (hereinafter merely called xe2x80x9cmeasurement computerxe2x80x9d). That is, the measurement computer outputs a measured value, which is the result of a measurement, on the basis of the detected value coming from the detector. The measuring instrument is provided with a measurement computer which performs at least any one of an arithmetical operations of the measured values, data processing, and control.
With the method for maintenance, information of type of the measuring instrument and requesting maintenance is transmitted from the measurement computer to one of the maintenance computers among maintenance computers respectively installed at a plurality of servicing centers, in compliance with an appointed maintenance-support program. The functions of maintenance computers are to control maintenance of the measuring instrument. After the transmission is completed, the maintenance computer judges, in compliance with a judgement program, whether or not the corresponding servicing center is able to perform maintenance on the basis of the time and date when the information is received.
On the basis of the result of the judgement, in a case where the corresponding servicing center is not able to execute maintenance, the maintenance computer selects another servicing center, which is able to execute maintenance, from various servicing centers registered in advance, on the basis of time and date and the type of the measuring instrument in compliance with a selection program. After the selection is completed, the maintenance computer transmits the information received from the abovementioned measurement computer to the maintenance computer of another servicing center in compliance with a transfer program.
Herein, as a measurement and maintenance computer, it is preferable that in the invention, a universal computer which functions as an independent computer, that is, a personal computer is used.
In the invention, xe2x80x9cobjects to be measuredxe2x80x9d include, for example, CO2 in a gas, particles in air or liquid, X-rays, etc. An infrared ray detector or a radiant ray detector may be used as a xe2x80x9cdetectorxe2x80x9d for detecting the abovementioned CO2, and X-rays, etc. Furthermore, a xe2x80x9cdetected valuexe2x80x9d in the invention means a data (value) which is outputted from the abovementioned detector and is not compensated or arithmetically processed.
According to the invention, since the information coming from a user is transferred to another servicing center whose time is different in a case where the maintenance computer judges that a countermeasure is not being carried out at the servicing center which received the above-mentioned information, the maker is able to perform maintenance and/or servicing even during a time and date other than the business time and date of the corresponding servicing center. Therefore, even though the maker does not secure personnel for maintenance and servicing at the respective servicing centers at all times, the maker is able to carry out a suitable and prompt servicing twenty-four hours a day. Correspondingly, the user is able to receive a twenty-four hour servicing system, resulting in an increase in the running efficiency of a measuring instrument.